Itinerary 19 



Koyuk rivers. The camp equipment for this trip was reduced to a 

 minimum. It consisted of a tent made of balloon silk weighing 

 twelve pounds, measuring eight feet square on the floor, with a 

 waterproof canvas ground cloth. A light robe made of four large 

 caribou skins, sewed together, served as a common mattress for all, 

 and a blanket apiece completed the bedding. Three kettles, a frying 

 pan, with a tin cup and spoon apiece were all the utensils found 

 necessary. The provisions carried, exclusive of the supplies re- 

 quired for the two additional packers, consisted of one hundred and 

 fifty pounds of flour, thirty pounds of rice, thirty pounds of beans, 

 sixty pounds of bacon, twenty-five pounds of sugar, three pounds of 

 tea, two pounds of baking powder, and two pounds of salt. Three 

 hundred pounds altogether or seventy-five pounds to each man, or 

 an average of two and a half pounds per man per day. This sup-' 

 ply, supplemented b}' a few fish and a number of ptarmigan shot 

 from day to day with a light 22 caliber rifle carried for this pur- 

 pose, proved ample. With the help of the two additional packers 

 engaged to accompany the party the first fifty miles, who returned 

 to Kaltag, no difficulty was experienced in making satisfactory 

 progress. The greatest annoyance experienced was that caused by 

 the frequent rains that made the swollen streams difficult to ford. 



The route, indicated on the accompanying map, was followed in 

 the hope of locating a place of primary interment of mammoth 

 remains where there might be the likelihood of obtaining a skeleton. 

 We were unsuccessful in the desired object, observing only scattered 

 depositions of bones and teeth, and these not in quantity that ofifer 

 much promise of future success in finding a complete skeleton in 

 this area. An Eskimo village called Isaac's on Norton Bay 

 was reached September 14 and passage to St. Michael secured on a 

 small trading schooner. From here Nome was reached on Sep- 

 tember 20 by local steamer. 



In the curio shops at Nome we found many sections of mammoth 

 tusks in a good state of preservation, said to have been obtained 

 on King Island, which lies in Bering Sea about forty miles south- 

 west of Port Clarence. An attempt was made to secure passage 

 to King Island, but as the stormy autumn season was advanced and 

 the island afifords no landing or shelter to an approaching vessel, 

 an examination into the occurrence of these remains had to be 

 postponed. For the same reason a visit to the historic locality on 

 Eschscholtz Bay, Kotzebue Sound, was found impracticable. We 

 therefore took passage by ocean steamer from Nome on October 

 9 and Seattle, Washington, was reached on October 20. 



